


#9-#11 It's Personal

by Averia



Series: Agent 37 [10]
Category: Grayson (Comics)
Genre: Betrayal, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Homesickness, Loss of Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-17 20:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4680374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Averia/pseuds/Averia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was done with pretending.<br/>She alone had the power to stop a war.<br/>He would find him. He would kill him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. #9 Death In The Making

**Author's Note:**

> All of the short stories follow the actual canonical material. It's a prosaic interpretation of the "Nemesis" storyline. 
> 
> Chapter 2 (#10) will be up on 05.09  
> Chapter 3 (#11) will be up on 12.09

He could not thing about anything else, could not stop thinking about home. Bruce had not answered even after days. He had heard the news like anyone else. There was no stopping it but he could not believe it.

He had been so close to him, to them, that day. If he had just stayed after his mission had been over. No. Bruce had never died. Not even when he should have been dead. Batman’s death had never been made public before. Gotham without Batman would be a hellhole true to its name. His late mentor had to have faked his death. Bruce had made him fake his own after all.

But he could feel the itching under his skin that told him something was not right and it riled him up to no end. All he wanted was to find out what had happened in his home town.

He had thought the mission would be a good way to distract him. He had been a fool to think it would. The Duchess looked so much like Selina that he ignored Tiger’s voice in his ear. It was his act anyway, to seem reckless. He had to engage. He had to feel the adrenaline. The mockery did not stop with her resemblance to the Cat thief, no Gypsy Love Song had to play in the background too. But after a while it was kind of nice. And the role he played actually made him happy. The illusion of Selina was broken when he could steal the necklace with ease. Selina would have been smarter than this, would have known something was up the moment he had shown up in the room. 

Everything felt right again for a few seconds, until Helena had to call him and tell him about the betrayal. He was not sure why it hurt. From the beginning he had know that they were not his friends. Still, they were the people around him. The people who knew he was alive. His craving for home returned. He could not do this anymore. He was done with pretending. 


	2. Betrayal Goes Around

Helena Bertinelli. She had no idea what to do now. Since the meeting everything had gone down wards. She could not tell Tiger the truth, could not tell him that she did suspect him instead. She knew it would sound stupid to anyone else how much she trusted Dick not to be the murderer. But she had seen it, how much he was willing to give up, simply to keep others alive. Old Gun. The Mother. The Baby. Midnighter. Her. All those people influenced by the Brain of Paragon. She knew heroes. She knew him. He would never kill and at the same time she did not fully believe that Tiger could have done it. He had been of the radar sometimes but he was one of their oldest, one of their best. He could have ruined them in any way possible. She did not know what do to, but she had to act because she was the leader now. She alone had the power to stop a war.

The Tiger King of Kandahar. He could not even describe his rage. Dick Grayson had been on his watch list since the very beginning. He did not trust heroes, he did not like them. But he had never thought Grayson would betray them likes this. Heroes had a code and Grayson’s was straighter than most. He was reminded of Alia again. It had not been Grayson’s fault but now everything seemed to mix together. What if he had planed all this? What if he was not who he seemed to be? Grayson had been tricking them all together. He would find him. He would kill him. That was for sure. If Helena could not see what was going on anymore, than he would have to make it clear to her. He was a soldier. He would focus on the task.

Dick Grayson. He would finish the job. That had been what he had told himself until he met Lex Luthor. He could not believe that Spyral had been involved with him. He was angry. Not even when Helena had not allowed him to contact the authorities because of Ashemoore’s cannibalism had he been so angry. He had felt betrayed that day too but not like this. It could not be true. He had trusted Helena and the bad thing was that he would trust her still. If she simply would tell him, he would believe her lies. His body still felt strange from the attack, nerves tinkling as if they waited to be controlled again. He could not do this anymore. This was the final straw. He had to find Tiger and explain. He had to find the murderer, as a hero. Not as a spy.


	3. #11 Failing Becomes Normal

He cut the connection to the bat cave. Nobody would answer anyway. He had known it for days but had held onto that ray of hope. And now he sat here, eyes narrowed and hands curling into fists. He did not feel the anger anymore. The anger at Spyral and his new enemy that had flown like lava through his veins every time his lookalike had hurled another painful truth at him. He knew nobody could have changed those events. He knew that whatever had happened to Bruce was not his fault. While a taste of resentment stayed he forced himself to focus on his determination. This was his way of living after all. His enemy had tried to manipulate him and he had given in too much. There was nothing wrong with being what they needed him to be. He had come to the conclusion even before he had joined Spyral. He had always been there for others. It had been his mission to be what they wanted him to be. Now he could take his life back and he would start with Gotham. Nobody could take away his home.  

This was not over. He knew it. Years of being taught constant vigilance had trained him to expect anything. But he made the decisions now.


End file.
